The facet joint is an articulating joint of a spinal motion segment that can degenerate during aging, trauma, typical use and other factors. The facet joints in various regions of the spine are oriented in different planes, for example, the lumbar facet joints are generally located in the sagittal plane, the thoracic facet joints are generally oriented in the coronal plane and the cervical facet joints are generally oriented in the axial or transverse plane. These orientations facilitate different types of motion in the respective regions of the spine.
Degenerated facet joints are often painful as a result of, for example, wear between two arthritic articulating surfaces contained within the synovial joint capsule. The surfaces of the facet joints are covered by articular cartilage. Inflammatory reactions may occur when the cartilaginous surfaces of the facets become degraded or fissured, thereby leading to direct bone-on-bone contact and resulting in pain. Over distraction of the surrounding joint capsules may also cause pain to a patient. Patients typically undergo a fusion surgery to alleviate this type of pain related to the facet which by its nature is invasive and nonreversible.
It is desirable to develop a non-invasive or minimally invasive system and method that can alleviate the pain resulting from degenerating facet joints.